One Last Hope
by ShipMistress
Summary: When Astrid gets injured in a fight, Hiccup is willing to do everything to save her. Everything!


**AN: Okay, this weird plot bunny has been nagging at me for quite some time now... Now, it can go nag at you :)**

**. o O** **o .**

Hiccup couldn't even remember how it happened.

In one moment, they'd all been fighting dragon hunters just as usual, with Astrid as his general calling out orders to the others. Then the fight had become more heated, the noises around then drowning out her voice. And now, he would give _everything_ to hear it just one more time.

Unmoving, he sat at the side of her bed, in the exact same spot he'd sat in ever since people had brought her here a few days ago. Her wounds, as far as she'd had some from that last fight, had all healed by now, but they'd been barely more than scratches anyway. Nothing that would explain why she wouldn't wake up.

Fishlegs claimed he'd seen how she'd gotten hit on the head and had fallen to the ground like a stone. And that was a possible explanation, Hiccup knew that. Sometimes, people got hit in the head and died without any other visible injuries.

But Astrid wasn't dead. She was still breathing, and even though he had to manually feed her water and broth to keep her alive, her body was clearly reacting to it, feeding on it. It was similar to when she'd had a bad fever two years ago when she'd been barely conscious for days on end. Back then, he'd kept her alive by spoon-feeding her too until she'd woken up again. Which was the difference now… This time, she just _wouldn't wake up…_

A whole week passed without her condition changing. Then a second one. Then a month. At Hiccup's request, Snotlout had taken over leading the village for now, with Gobber, Gothi, and some of the other elders as his advisors. They were doing okay, or he hoped so at least. Right now, Astrid needed him more.

Every day, he talked to her. He told her about the weather, what the people walking past the window were doing. He told her of ideas he had, of new inventions he wanted to make or how to improve them. And he told her about what he would like to do if she would only wake up. Like taking a flight, simply for fun. Just going anywhere where he didn't need to be the Chief, where they could just be Hiccup and Astrid. He wouldn't waste another minute with boring council meetings ever again…

"Talk to me, please," he murmured into her hair one day. He held her hand in his, hoping for a light squeezing or a twitch of her fingers. Just _anything!_

But time passed without her waking up, and with every day, Hiccup became more frantic.

"Please," he prayed to the Gods, desperate for just any sign, a hint, just _something_. "Please tell me what I have to do to get her back! I… I _need _her!"

But, of course, he didn't get an answer. The Gods had always hated him, so why would they help now?

With a forlorn cry, he sank to his knees, just next to her bed. Her limp hand lay right in front of him, and without him thinking about it, he nuzzled into it, his tears coating her soft skin.

"Please," he muttered weakling to no-one in particular. "Please, I'd do _everything_ to get her back."

He didn't know for how long he knelt there beside her, but from one moment to the other, the room was filled with movement. There was Toothless, nuzzling his head into Hiccup's side until he reached out to scratch his head. Hiccup felt sorry for neglecting his friend so much lately, but he couldn't help it. He just _couldn't_ leave Astrid's side.

But then, his friend wasn't alone anymore anyway. Behind him, the Light Fury slid into the room, her big eyes filled with sorrow at the sight in front of her, and before Hiccup could react, Stormfly came in too, making the usually spacious room feel incredibly small.

But Hiccup wasn't worried that one of the dragons would hurt Astrid, not even accidentally. With tired eyes, he watched as the Nadder leaned over the bed, a sad trill rumbling through her body as she rubbed her chin against Astrid's unmoving form.

It looked as if the dragon was saying her last goodbye, but Hiccup wasn't in a position to accept that idea. Astrid wasn't dead, wasn't lost. Not yet.

Hiccup flinched when something heavy dropped to the ground next to him. When he looked down, he found a bag Toothless seemed to have dropped there.

"What's this, bud?" he asked in a weak voice. Was this supposed to be a gift to cheer him up? It was certainly well intended, but not what Hiccup needed right now.

_[Help.]_

With a start, Hiccup looked up and into his friend's large eyes. He had no doubt that what he'd just heard had been Toothless voice. But how? He blinked in confusion, but in the end couldn't bring himself to care enough even about such a riddle.

"Help?" he asked, a sliver of hope rising inside him? "Is this some medicine? Something to heal her?"

Toothless gave a grunt and shook his scaly head. _[No medicine. Help.]_

Puzzled, Hiccup opened the bag; it was filled with dragon scales of all sizes and colours. In the next moment, an image rose to Hiccup's mind's eye, an image he'd never seen before and was sure wasn't of his own imagination. It showed the scales in his hands, laid out in a circle and a strangle light glowing on the inside.

_[Build around you and her. Name your wish. Call on old dragons of time and wisdom. Won't judge. Might help.]_

Hiccup could do nothing but stare at his friend. Was he hallucinating now? Quite possible... He'd not eaten much and was dehydrated. Probably this was nothing but a trick his mind was playing on him. Toothless speaking? And some form of ritual to contact some dragon Gods? It sounded insane, even in his own mind.

But no matter how weird the situation was, he wouldn't waste it. Not if there was _any_ chance…

"Thank you!" he gasped, tears forming in his eyes as he threw his arms around Toothless' neck.

The dragon hummed, the vibrations rumbling through both their bodies. _[Will miss you.]_

The next Hiccup knew was that the dragons were gone. He blinked a few times, but from one heartbeat to the other, they'd disappeared without a trace. He was even about to admit that it had been nothing but a dream after all – if it hadn't been for the bag full of dragon scales in his hands.

His eyes wandered to Astrid's face, pale and unmoving. "I'd do everything for you," he murmured and leaned in to breathe a light kiss onto her lips. "Everything!"

Then he proceeded to put what he'd seen into reality. Meticulously, he ordered the scales into an orderly circle around Astrid's bed so that every single one touched those next to it. After he'd put the last one in its place, the strange light he'd seen in his vision appeared right above her unmoving body, faint but undeniably _there._

After taking a deep breath, Hiccup stepped into the circle as well, kneeling over her. It should have felt stupid, but somehow it didn't. It felt just right. "I don't know if you can hear me," he said in a low but clear voice. "But please, I need your help. If there is _any_ way for me to help her, to heal her and to get her back, then please tell me what it is. I'm ready to do _everything_, no matter what."

At first, he thought he wouldn't get an answer. And why would he? This was just as hopeless as calling on his own Gods for help. If _they_ didn't care, why should foreign ones do? But then, the faint light around them grew stronger and stronger until it was so bright that he couldn't even see the room around them anymore. There was nothing but this light and Astrid beneath him. And distant, murmuring voices.

They were all talking at once, and even though Hiccup tried to understand them, there were just too many. He got enough to understand one thing, however. They were debating different approaches, possibilities, options.

He wasn't sure how much time had passed – A minute? An hour? A year? – but eventually, the voices died down until only one was still speaking. It wasn't a language he consciously understood though, but more something that spoke directly to his mind. It told him about the passing of time, about travelling in space, of things that happened around him, and taught him languages he'd never heard of before. By the time the voice stopped, his head was dizzy with the overload of information, even though his mind somehow seemed capable of digesting it all.

When he found his way back into reality, it felt like waking up – probably because he was _literally_ waking up, lying in a foreign bed in a foreign room wearing foreign clothes. Immediately, his eyes darted around, searching and finding the only thing that mattered. Astrid was lying in a bed next to his, tubes and equipment attached to her that he now knew to be a life support system. There were moving pictures – _monitors_, as his mind reminded him – that showed various numbers and moving lines. So far, she was fine and stable.

A little less anxious now that he knew she was cared for, Hiccup's eyes wandered through the rest of the room. The walls were decorated in what seemed to be his old drawings, and in general, this room reminded him of the one he'd had at home – even though in a much more modern way.

The only thing that stood out was a small box on a table nearby. It was black and when he stepped closer, he noticed an intricate pattern of thin red lines all over its surface. Inside, he found some sort of stone, carved into a perfect oval jewel. It was purple, but the moment he touched it, the colour shifted to a dark almost black green.

_[This is the miraculous of the butterfly,]_ a strange voice spoke in his mind. _[Its former owner used it to gain access to the miraculous of the ladybug and the cat. He failed, but if you are successful, then they will grant you a wish. With them, you can get your beloved back.]_

The voice fell silent, the faint light – the afterglow of the incantation – fading, and Hiccup knew that he would never hear or see it again. He gazed at the jewel in his hand, feeling a sense of sorrow and betrayal, but wasn't sure what to make of it. Without wasting another thought on this though, Hiccup pinned the jewel to his collar. His outfit changed, transforming him without him really noticing, as he stepped close to Astrid on her bed again.

"Don't worry," he murmured, leaning down to let his lips glide over her forehead, her nose, her lips. "I will heal you. _I promise!"_

**. o O o .**

**AN: Okay, I know this sounds like the beginning of a long and complicated story... and maybe it is. But I won't be the one telling it. I don't have a real idea for this and I also don't have the time or inclination to dive deeper into this. I just wanted to get rid of this plot bunny.  
**

**If anyone feels inspired though, go ahead**.


End file.
